The City of Cape Town announced on Monday that it would be implementing water rationing as part of its drought management efforts aimed at driving down water consumption to the required levels.

The intervention is likely to result in water supply being disrupted during peak water usage times in the mornings (between 05:00 and 09:00) and in the evenings (between 17:00 and 21:00) if usage is above the required levels.

The city explained that theoretically everyone should have water but the duration of the outages would depend on the water usage for the area and whether it is within the water restriction levels.

A vital intervention

“Reducing water usage remains the most vital intervention to help see the city through the summer ahead,” the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Informal Settlements, Water and Waste Services; and Energy, Councillor Xanthea Limberg said.

“With the help of almost half of Capetonians, as well as our pressure interventions, leak management programme and the installation of water management devices, we have brought usage down from more than 1.1 billion litres per day to the current volume – but further critical measures, such as pressure reduction, must be intensified to maintain reduced demand throughout summer,” she added.

Restoration dependent on consumers

The city said it cannot pinpoint an exact time for the duration of the supply disruptions as it is dependent on consumer behaviour.

Service will be restored as soon as demand decreases to within the limitations of Level 5 water restrictions. If an area is using above the daily water limit, rationing through advance pressure management will continue until the limit is reached.

“It must be noted that reducing consumption is non-negotiable, irrespective of augmentation projects coming online. We ask all water users to support us and to help us to get through this unprecedented drought which is affecting large parts of South Africa as well,” Limberg concluded.